


“You don’t actually expect me to just let you go, do you?”

by theLazyTraveler



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-11-10
Packaged: 2020-12-28 13:44:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21137669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theLazyTraveler/pseuds/theLazyTraveler
Summary: Prompt based post s2ep2 Hizzie fic. After leaving Alaric's office, Hope sneaks into Salvatore school to grab some stuff from her old room. An unexpected encounter with an old friend leads to like a super emotional conversation. Hope's day has been kind of exhausting.





	1. You don't actually expect me to let you go, do you?

**Author's Note:**

> So, this has not been proofread, or even re-read like at all. I cannot do that, like physically. If any mistakes are too glaringly obvious, drop a comment about it and I will try to correct it.  
Also just in general, leave a comment, tell me what you thought. I thrive on praise.  
Also, I am aware that I already have an unfinished Hizzie fic, but... unno... life...  
I am one of those writers that does not fact check anything ever because I am too lazy. So if I write anything that's like super wrong.. well, u know the drill

Hope stepped away from Alaric, wiping her eyes. Telling him about what was going on certainly felt good in the moment, but now it was just a little bit awkward. Hope cleared her throat, and started to back away uncertainly. She wasn’t sure where they would go from here.

Alaric cleared his throat. Even though he couldn’t remember who Hope was, somehow seeing her open up meant a lot to him. It stirred up that same familiarity he felt when fighting with Hope. It was almost like muscle memory to hug her, and worry for her.

Before Hope could escape the headmaster’s office, Alaric asked her where she was planning to stay. It was something that he had been wondering ever since his suspicions about Hope’s lack of parental supervision was confirmed.

Hope paused, seemingly dumbfounded by the question. It wasn’t exactly something she had thought about. She had kind of figure she would try her luck in New Orleans, but now that she was staying in Mystic Falls, she really had no idea.

Shrugging her shoulders, Hope looked sheepishly off to the side. “I kind of just decided to stay a few moments ago, so…”

“Why don’t you go by the school, I assume that you used to live there before, so you know your way around?”-Alaric was already forming a plan

“Yes, I do, but It’s not like I can just waltz up through the front doors, and besides, I already told you I’m not going to go back there. It’s too hard.” – Hope’s voice trailed off, as the thought of having to live in a school where no-one remembered her made the words stick in her throat. Her friends and her … ex-boyfriend (surely someone who doesn’t even remember you and is dating someone new can’t be considered a boyfriend anymore, even if there was no official break up) seem to be better off without her anyway.

“I get it, I can’t just go back there either, but you know your way around, and I assume you know about the secret tunnel underneath the school too?”

Hope nodded, still unsure what Alaric was getting at, trying to send her back to the school. “Yeah, the one with the creepy skull fountain, I still don’t understand…”

“Ok, just hear me out. You don’t have to stay there, and I won’t try and convince you that it’s probably the best and the safest place for you right now. I get the feeling you’re not one to take advice you disagree with. But you do need some clothes and human girl things so you can fit in. And I am willing to bet that some of your things are still at school. I know you told me that you made me burn anything that would lead anyone to you, which, I still can’t believe I did, by the way, because, frankly, that is an idiotic idea.”

Hope looked up at Alaric indignantly. She looked like she was about to protest, but the headmaster pressed on.

“Before I was officially demoted as the headmaster, I noticed that there was an empty room at school, that was closed with a spell. There seemed to be no record of anyone having lived there, but coming fresh off of the whole Malivore situation, I figured it might be best to keep it intact, just in case. So, why don’t you go pack your things up from what I am certain now is your room, and I’ll meet you back at the school.”- Alaric finished laying out his plan, seemingly very pleased with his deduction about the room. It was definitely very satisfying to have his wildest assumptions be proved right.

“That… First of all, how do you know that no one has broken into the room yet and figured out that someone that no one seems to remember lived there, and even if that all works out, what am I meant to do once I sneak back out again with all my stuff? I can’t exactly rent an apartment, I’m not 18 yet, and I don’t even know if I have access to any of my bank accounts anymore.”

Hope had a sneaking suspicion of what Alaric was going to suggest she do about her living situation, but she was hoping he would surprise her just this once.

“You will live with me. You need to fit in here, and right now your story and lack of a family is too suspicious. We will say that you’re the daughter of a cousin of mine from out east, and they have sent you to stay with me for a while because you got into some trouble back home. Or something like that. We will brainstorm you background story later.”- Alaric seemed quite proud of his plan.

If Hope didn’t know any better, she would think that Dr Saltzman was excited to have someone living with him, especially a supernatural. She supposed going from a headmaster of a boarding school full of supernatural beings to being in charge of a regular school was an adjustment. Not to mention living away from his daughters for the first time in their lives. He was probably very lonely and bored.

Taking a deep breath, Hope tried to remind herself that she didn’t exactly have any other options right now, and everything that Alaric has said did make sense. Even if she didn’t like it.

“Ok. I will go check out the school and try to get some of my stuff back. But if I get caught, I am definitely putting all blame on you. Dorian already caught me lurking outside the gates the other day, if he catches me inside the school, he will definitely be suspicious.”

Alaric seemed unconcerned. “You’re a witch, right? I’m sure you will figure something out. And I might not remember you, but somehow, I doubt this will be your first time sneaking around the school at night. You’ll manage.”- He gave Hope an infuriatingly knowing smirk, and for a moment, it almost seemed like he knew exactly who she was.

But the moment passed, and Hope hurried out of the office, trying not to think too much about everything that could go wrong.

* * *

Sneaking into the school was easy. Suspiciously so. Hope made her way down the corridors with practiced ease. Muscle memory making her stick to the shadows and avoid the creaky floorboards. No one seemed to be around, but you could never be too careful and with a new headmaster around, Hope couldn’t take the risk of being caught.

Making her way past Landon’s room, Hope paused, unable to take another step. Even though she knew how creepy it would be if Landon found her standing outside his room at night, after the talk they had in the park earlier, Hope couldn’t help but feel like maybe if she just… told Landon everything, he would believe her, and take her in his arms, tell her everything will be all right. He would say that he loves her, even if he can’t remember and they will figure out a way to restore everyone’s memories.

Unbidden, the memory of Landon and Josie kissing in the woods came to Hope’s mind. Landon had moved on already and Hope can’t blame him. Josie is an amazing girl, and they both deserve to be happy. Maybe if Hope repeats that enough times to herself, she will actually start to believe it too.

Before the tribrid could even think of doing something stupid like, throwing caution to the wind and knocking on Landon’s door, she heard footsteps coming towards her from around the corner. Hope managed to step back into a concealed alcove just as Landon turned the corner towards his room.

The boy was smiling goofily to himself, seeming both dazed and entirely pleased with himself. A far cry from the frustration and indecision Hope saw on his face earlier in the evening. A sudden realisation made Hope suck her breath in, lest she started crying again. The advice she gave Landon earlier must have worked. He was coming from the direction of the twins’ room after all. 

Hope bit her lip, looking up at the ceiling, trying desperately to keep her tears at bay. This whole situation seemed to her to be a special kind of torture. 

Just before Landon opened his door he paused, making Hope hold her breath, afraid of giving away her position. If standing openly outside his room would have been creepy, lurking in the shadows really took it to the next level.

Landon looked around the hallway, as if he was looking for something, or someone. He bore the same confused expression he used to get when he was trying to remember some supernatural fact that he learned in class earlier. From her hiding place, Hope could only make out his profile, but she could tell he was struggling to pin something down. Without even fully realising it, Hope’s heart began to beat faster, and not just because she was afraid of being found out. A small part of her was hoping Landon would somehow feel she was here, near him. Remember her even.

Suddenly, Landon shook his head, as if to clear out unwanted thoughts, and entered his room, gently closing the door. Hope exhaled slowly, and shook her head at her own pathetic behaviour. She was truly acting like a love sick fool, and told herself to snap out of it. That was too close a call, and she definitely couldn’t afford a misstep now.

* * *

The rest of the way was much less eventful. Once Hope made it to the attic, where her room used to be, the chances of her running into anyone were slim. At least during the night. As the tribrid raised her hand to deactivate the locking charm she always had on her door, she suddenly realised her wards were down. 

So, Alaric has been wrong. Someone did find their way to the mysteriously locked room in the attic. Figures. Hope wasn’t too concerned though, and decided that at most they would have cleared the room out, or used it as extra storage space. So, she reached for the door knob and opened it slowly, careful not to make too much noise, but not exactly concerned with what she might find inside.

Just as Hope was about to reach for the light switch, a blinding light suddenly lit up the other side of the room, momentarily studding the tribrid. Before Hope could even focus her eyes, she was roughly shoved against the door by a very dishevelled, but very much alert Lizzie Saltzman.

“Care to explain who the hell you are, and why you’re breaking into my room in the middle of the night? What are you, some kind of tragic teenage runaway hobo? This isn’t a homeless shelter, you know?”

Hope was stunned, not the least because Lizzie was wearing her favourite sweatshirt, and clearly had just been sleeping in her bed. Being on the receiving end of the blonde’s cutting wit was such a familiar feeling, that Hope momentarily forgot about her current predicament, and replied with a smirk, “Don’t you mean my room, Saltzman? Very surprised to see you in that sweatshirt too, considering you gave me so much shit for how old and ratty it was.”

Lizzie looked like she’d been slapped, and stepped away from Hope, looking bewildered. Before Hope could even attempt at damage control, Lizzie began to speak, “Wha.. Who? What the hell are you talking about? Did Josie send you? Is this some kind of prank? What, did she finally decide to pay me back for letting Satan go? This isn’t funny, you know? And who the hell are you anyway, I have never seen you before in my life…”

Lizzie began to breath erratically, barely getting the words out. Hope realised what was happening, and cursed herself silently. Of course, Lizzie would not take lightly to someone she doesn’t know acting like they know her. Once again, impulse took over and Hope reached out for Lizzie’s hand. Making rational decisions around Lizzie Saltzman had never been Hope’s strong suit. If she was being honest with herself, and she has been actively avoiding that, she would admit that a large part of why she jumped into the bloody hell dimension was because Lizzie’s words were echoing in her ears. “Go be a hero”.

When their hands touched, for a few moments time seemed to slow down. Lizzie felt a tingle of bottomless power coming from the other girl, an untapped current, that seemed somehow so familiar. It seemed to calm her, for a brief moment, that familiarity. Until she remembered that this was someone she didn’t know. Someone who had broken into the room she had claimed for her own ever since she had come back from Europe, declaring it was actually her room. And her things. Not to mention, that Lizzie had never met someone with that much power.

Lizzie snatched her hand away from the shorter girl, taking another step back. The one thing that their brief contact did accomplish, was stopping Lizzie from spiralling out of control. Hope always seemed so good at doing that. Wait, where did that thought come from? 

Lizzie brushed the odd thought aside, focussing her eyes once more on the shorter girl. “All right, Bilbo Baggins’ little sister, out with it. Who are you really, and what are you doing here?”

Hope sighed, cursing herself internally for being unable to think clearly and rationally around Lizzie. The blonde had always set her on edge and made her a lot less rational. Ever since they were kids, Lizzie was the only one who could really get under Hope’s skin, and right now she was paying the price for her weakness.

There was no way out of this, Hope was going to have to tell Lizzie everything, and pray that the other girl will believe her, and not call security on her. Hope took another hesitant step towards Lizzie.

“How much do you know about Malivore?” asked Hope. Lizzie’s eyes widened. That was not a word thrown about easily around here. In fact, since the end of the school year, everyone has been trying really hard to forget about it. Well, everyone apart from her sister’s new boy toy and his newly developed fan club.

Lizzie scoffed, “Everyone around here has heard of that glorified mud pit. It’s so last spring though, since bird boy apparently defeated it, so I really don’t see what it has to do with you breaking into my room at night.” The blonde crossed her arms and cocked an eyebrow, daring the shorter girl to start making sense.

Hope rolled her eyes, and mirrored Lizzie in crossing her eyes. She can be defensive too. “Yeah, well that’s bullshit, and I think you know it. As much as I lo…”, Hope bit her tongue, remembering that Landon was now dating Lizzie’s twin, so she should probably avoid mentioning her relationship with him for the time being. “Umm... as impressive as London’s phoenix powers are, they don’t in any way explain him defeating Malivore. That was me.”

Lizzie tilted her head curiously at the other girl’s attempted diversion. “Hold your horses Wonder Woman. Do you really expect me to believe you that you were the one to defeat an all-powerful monster eating mud pit? I know I’m not exactly the biggest fan of my sister’s new beau, but even I have to admit that immortality is an impressive skill. What exactly are your powers again?”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t just feel my power a second ago. I am not just a witch, I am Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter and a tribrid. A cosmic mistake, and a cosmic loophole. I was the only one who was able to put an end to Malivore. Or at least I thought I was the only one…”- Hope looked off to the side, breaking eye contact. Being reminded again that her big sacrifice was for nothing, made her feel angry with herself. 

Lizzie stared at the other girl, unable to wrap her head around what she just heard. Surely this was some elaborate prank that her sister was pulling on her. “A tribrid, ok sure. Do you take me for an idiot? That’s not a real thing. If you’re going to try and prank me, at least try and make it believable.” Lizzie turned away from the other girl, making her way further into the room.

“I am not trying to prank you, Lizzie. You know that Malivore erases anyone who goes into it from the collective memory. I know there is no records of me attending the school, but how do you explain this room? All the things here? That sweater you’re wearing, it has my initials sawn into the back of the collar, HM- Hope Mikaelson. My aunt Freya did that to all my clothes when they sent me here. How would I know that, if this wasn’t my room?” Hope followed Lizzie further into the room, making her way to the bookshelf, where all her books were almost exactly where she left them. Lizzie must have moved a few of them around. 

Dragging her finger along the familiar spines, Hope continued, “I am willing to bet no one else but you has been in this room, so there is no way I should know that this book,” Hope suddenly reached out blindly for a book to her right, opening it to reveal a hollowed out middle, with a potion bottle inside, “has a sleeping potion hidden inside it.” 

She turned around, showing the potion bottle to Lizzie. “My aunt Freya’s special blend, works wonders.” Lizzie reached out to have a closer look at the bottle. Meanwhile Hope moved on towards her desk.

“There is also no way I would know about the hidden compartment that opens up in the desk when you press, right here,” Hope snuck her hand under the table, while keeping eye contact with Lizzie. She felt for the button that popped open a shelf with a grimoire of ancient battle magic. “Contraband battle magic. It was a birthday present from my other aunt, Davina.” Hope shrugged, taking in Lizzie’s astonished expression with a sense of satisfaction.

“I bet even you didn’t know about that one. But wait, there is more,” Hope pressed the heel of her boot into the end of a floor board, lifting it up. Lizzie’s eyes fell towards the hiding place, seeing it full of rolled up parchments and forbidden potions ingredients.

The shorter girl raised her eyebrow, waiting for Lizzie’s reaction. “Still think this is a prank? Or are you ready to listed to me now?”

Before Lizzie could reply, there was a knock on the door. Josie’s voice filtered through, “Lizzie? Are you still awake? I kind of… I wanted to tell you something.” Josie sounded excited and a little apprehensive. Lizzie looked towards the door, and back at Hope, who shook her head and brought a finger to her lips, begging her to stay quiet.

Lizzie walked towards the door, opening it just a crack to see Josie. “Hey Josette. I’m sorry, I can’t… really talk right now, I’m… errr…” she looked over her shoulder, trying to spot Hope, who seemed to have disappeared into thin air. “I’m meditating, you know how important it is for me to meditate before sleep. All the European doctors really swear by it, so you know, I’ll… see you at breakfast tomorrow! Ok, bye! Have a good night sleep.” Lizzie quickly shut the door in Josie’s face, feeling slightly bad about dismissing her sister so abruptly. But the mysterious intruder had piqued her interest and she wanted to get to the bottom of this before letting Josie in on it. If she was ever going to let her in on it at all. Josie had her new boyfriend and the council to deal with, and Lizzie wanted something of her own to hold onto.

When the blonde turned around again, there was no one in the room. She took a few hesitant steps back towards the last place she saw Hope, by the desk, yet the girl was nowhere to be found. Just as she was about to call out her name, a hand landed on her shoulder and Lizzie jumped about a foot in the air, releasing a very undignified scream. She was turned around and suddenly Hope was in front of her, holding a hand against her mouth.

“Oh my god, keep it together! Josie could have heard you. What would you say then? That you’re practicing the ancient European art of screaming meditation?” Hope snarked, giving Lizzie a warning look.

After taking a moment to collect herself, Lizzie pulled Hope’s hand away from her face by the wrist. She didn’t let go of the shorter girl’s hand, however. Something about the physical contact was at once soothing and exciting. She put the thought away to be examined at another time, or never.

“All right, Hope, was it? Say I believe that this is, or was, your room. And that you are indeed the one who defeated Malivore, reckless superhero style. How do you explain the fact that you’re back now?” Lizzie questioned.

“Malivore kind of… spit me out,” Hope shrugged. “I guess he wasn’t comfortable with my presence or whatever.”

“Wait a minute,” Lizzie suddenly let go of Hope’s wrist, only now realising that they’ve basically been holding hands this whole time. “Are you saying that Malivore isn’t actually defeated?”

Hope looked off to the side, a fresh wave of anxiety and frustration hitting her at the reminder of her failure. “Yes, well, I guess it isn’t. I mean I know it isn’t since Alaric and I just had to kill a cyclops earlier today.”

“I’m sorry, did you just refer to my father by his first name? What are you, his monster hunting partner now?” Lizzie rolled her eyes.

“Well, actually… Kind of? I know that’s been like, the cornerstone of our rivalry…” Hope trailed off as Lizzie narrowed her eyes at her. “More on that some other time, maybe… So, err, yeah. I kind of need him for a plausible cover story, and well… I don’t really have a place to stay, since I’m not planning to come back here. I am actually supposed to be meeting him at the high school soon.”

“We are definitely revisiting that little rivalry comment, but right now I want to focus on the high school one. Are you saying that you go to that snake pit known as Mystic Falls High?”

“There are literally no other schools in this town, Lizzie, I don’t exactly have a choice.” Hope sighed with annoyance. Trust Lizzie to focus on what school she is going to instead of the fact that Malivore is back, or that she’s literally talking to someone she has supposedly known for years but has no recollection of.

“We literally have a football game coming up against your school, and I am pretty sure the new headmaster will encourage us to use magic and crush your school. Now, I am usually all for showing off and sticking it to those Neanderthals, but I am afraid this year it might get out of hand, what with dad being their new headmaster and now apparently with an all-powerful tribrid on their team.” Lizzie raised her eyebrow, trying to get the other girls to understand the importance of the situation.

Hope closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She suddenly realised how exhausted she was from all the emotional and frankly physical turmoil of the day. She’s been chocked by a cyclops and had given romantic advice to the boy that she loves about another girl, who used to be one of her closest friends. And neither of them even knew she existed. Now she was stood in her old room, talking to her old rival, turned reluctant friend, turned complete stranger about… a highschool football game. It was kind of too much.

“You know what, I can’t deal with this right now. I literally just came here to grab some of my stuff so that I can actually look like I have a life.” Hope turned away from Lizzie, grabbing a duffel bag from under the bed, and beginning to empty her drawers into it.

Lizzie looked on dumbfounded at the abrupt end to their conversation, not used to be dismissed outright like that. “Hold on. You don’t actually expect me to let you go, do you?” She stepped towards the shorter girl, grabbing the duffel bag, and trying to tug it out of her hand. “You literally just dropped the bombshell of the freaking century on me, and are, what? Just going to pack your things and disappear into the night?”

“No, actually I am going to go to your father’s house and pretend to be his niece from out east. Or south. Or somewhere, I don’t know. We haven’t worked out the details of my backstory quite yet. All I know is that right now I need a shower and sleep.” Hope took Lizzie’s hand off her duffel and continued packing.

“Ok, well. I can’t just leave it like that. You have to tell me everything. We have to figure out a way to get everyone’s memories back. Something! And if Malivore is back, and you are who you say you are, we are going to need you here. Protecting the school!”

“Look, I honestly think everyone will be safer with me as far away as possible. I wasn’t even planning to stay here in the first place, but I am exhausted. And I have nowhere to go right now. I will stay as long as I figure out where to go. Besides,” Hope shrugged, looking away from Lizzie, “everyone seems much better off without me here anyway.”

Lizzie felt a pang in her chest. Something about seeing the other girl so sad and lonely seemed very familiar. She couldn’t quite place the feeling, but she got the sudden urge to cheer her up. She thought about the dream she’d been having. About a world that was dark and hopeless, a world in which she had killed her own sister and something vital seemed to be missing from her life. That feeling never went away, even when she was awake. 

“I don’t think I’m better off. I might not know who you are, but… I believe you. Because frankly, so many things haven’t been adding up, something’s been missing, and everyone else refuses to acknowledge it, even though I know they all feel it too.” Lizzie looked down, only now realising she’s still wearing what was apparently the other girl’s sweatshirt. A blush began to creep up her cheeks, but she powered through. “I mean, I’ve been coming to sleep in this room, your room. Wearing your clothes, because, it seems to calm me. Whatever’s been missing, it doesn’t seem so obvious here.” Lizzie shrugged, stepping closer to Hope. “I guess what I’m trying to say, is that everyone’s memories of you might be erased, but the feelings can’t be. There’s been a hole in our lives, in the school, and just because on the surface everything seems fine, deep down we are all searching for something.”

Hope turned her face, hiding it behind her hair, not wanting Lizzie to see the tears in her eyes. She has been trying to convince herself so hard that what she did was justified. Even if Malivore wasn’t defeated, at least everyone seemed happier without her in their lives. But seeing Lizzie here in her room, in her clothes, she knew the other girl was saying the truth. The two girls might have just been on their way to becoming friends before Hope disappeared, but one way or another, they had always been a big part of each other’s lives for a long time.

Before she could rationalise her way out of it, Hope flung her arms around Lizzie, burying her head in the taller girl’s neck. After a moment of hesitation, the blonde wrapped her arms around Hope. Something about this felt right. It felt like coming home.


	2. It’s not a date!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, this has now turned into a rewrite of this season as it's happening. I have decided to add Sebastian in there, but put my own spin on his appearance. This is post episode 3, kind of keeping to the cannon, but not really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Omg, what is this? Another chapter? So soon? So long? So unproofread? You know it. Could it be that I am avoiding doing actual work while I look like I am working very hard? Possibly. Is this fic already almost as long as my undergrad dissertation? Very likely.  
Anyway, hope you enjoy. And plz lemme know what you think!  
Also, even I have no clue where the hell this is going. When I started writing this chapter, I thought i was gonna use the prompt in an entirely different way, but here we are.

After saving Raf, Hope went to check on Maya and Ethan. They were the first people to be nice to her since she came back, and honestly it was kind of a welcome change to have interactions with people that weren’t loaded with any emotional baggage about being forgotten. These people knew as little about her and she did about them, and after a day of dancing around her feelings for Landon, it was like a breath of fresh air.

Hope saw Maya coming out of the hospital out of the corner of her eye. She closed her diary, angsty teenage thoughts could wait for another day. As much as Hope liked indulging her darkest thoughts from time to time, she knew to not overindulge.

“Hope? What are you doing here?” the taller girl was a bit confused. She hadn’t seen Hope since she limped off the field earlier in the day.

“I came to check on you and Ethan,” if she was being honest, Hope felt a little guilty for what happened to Ethan. She knew she didn’t have a choice, but she also knew that her old friends weren’t playing fair. She also never imagined that Josie would actually do something like this.

“He’s just, worked so hard for this scholarship, and now it’s all over,” Maya started crying, this was totally unfair and made absolutely no sense. It was nice seeing the other girl, but it also made her finally let her feelings out. She’d been trying to calm her mom, and cheer Nathan up, but honestly, she just wanted to have someone hold her and tell her it will all be ok.

Hope reached out and hugged Maya, trying to give her as much comfort as she could. After focusing so much on her own problems, it was a welcome change to take care of someone else. The taller girl had been so nice to her, and Hope wanted nothing more in this moment than to have a new friend, with no strings attached.

After running into Lizzie in her old room, and losing her cool, telling the blonde basically everything, Hope had kind of been avoiding her. She saw Lizzie at the game, reading up on the Mikaelson family, trying to catch her eye, but that was not something Hope was prepared to deal with on top of everything else that was going on.

* * *

Lizzie had been avoiding MG. She knew that the boy was in love with her, and making up a mysterious crush was the only way she could think of keeping him at a distance. The truth was, that she was afraid of him asking her out. She had made a promise to herself that this year would be the year of yes, which meant she couldn’t turn him down. And Lizzie loved MG, she really did, just not in the way her loved her. He was one of her closest and most loyal friends, and she didn’t want to hurt his feelings, so… She made up Sebastian.

Well, she didn’t exactly make him up, but she did exaggerate her interest in him just a little. The truth was, that after the mysterious, forgotten Mikaelson heiress broke into her room a couple of nights ago, she had found it hard to think of anything else.

Before Hope had left her room that night, after they had awkwardly disentangled themselves from their hug, a hug that Lizzie has been refusing to dwell on, the tribrid had made Lizzie pinkie swear not to tell anyone about her.

In turn, Lizzie made her promise to meet up at some point, away from the school, and really tell her everything. In the meantime, the blonde had been researching everything she could find on the Mikaelson family and magical hybrids. Since Hope had also mentioned who her mother was, Lizzie’s research led her to the crescent wolf clan. After Rafael had come back, and both he and Landon seemed a little cagey when they told them about how they finally managed to turn Raf back into a human, Lizzie was certain that Hope must have had a part to play.

Rafael’s miraculous transformation was really what solidified Lizzie’s belief in what Hope had told her about herself. Not to mention, that she turned the whole room upside down, finding more of the tribrid’s secret stashes and hiding places. Some of the artefacts and grimoires that Hope had hidden away were so ancient and powerful, that Lizzie had no doubt they had come from the Mikaelson family. On top of that, all of the clothes in the room did end up having the initials HM sawn onto them, just as Hope had said.

Since what Hope said was the truth, she decided to give the other girl a reason to trust her too, and kept everything that she had found out to herself. She was dying to ask Raf and Landon what really happened in the woods, but knew that would mean explaining what she knows in return. So instead she decided to bury herself in research, pretending, for MG’s sake to be totally immersed in the mysterious new stranger.

After Hope had ditched the game, followed by Landon, the Salvatore team tried to cajole Lizzie into playing QB. Sometimes it was honestly exhausting being so talented at everything. Just as she was about to try and get out of it, so she could follow Hope and Landon, to see what the hell they were up to, purely for Josie’s sake, of course.

She saw the way the shorter girl was flirting with her sister’s personal jar of sentient mayonnaise, which made her inexplicably mad. Lizzie supposed she was just a very protective sister, and after Satan incarnate broke Josie’s heart, she had even more reason to look out for her.

But before Lizzie could make her excuses and sneak away, she saw Sebastian lingering on the edge of the woods, watching her like some creepy, although admittedly sexy, stalker. Since Lizzie wasn’t sure if he was some kind of monster, or just a very angsty teenager with a penchant for dramatic entrances, she decided to stick around for a little while longer. Purely to keep an eye out on Josie of course.

After a single play, one that Josie botched anyway, Sebastian snuck back into the forest. Intrigued, and slightly frustrated at his seemingly random coming and going, Lizzie decided to follow him. Besides, she wasn’t too interested in losing another game to the buffoons from Mystic Falls High.

Lizzie finally caught up with Sebastian in some creepy abandoned underground. This whole situation with him was seriously giving her some Twilight vibes, and not the good kind. He spoke in riddles once more, talking about some other pretty girl he once knew. Who talks like that? Also, was telling a girl how she looks like someone you used to know supposed to be some kind of pick up line?

Anyhow, Lizzie was glad to find out Sebastian was a vampire. That was certainly better than him being a yeti or a kraken. It was kind of odd how surprised he was that she didn’t have a problem with him being a vampire. Almost as if he expected her to be scared, or disgusted. Putting all of that together with his seriously outdated clothing choices, Lizzie was beginning to think Sebastian wasn’t exactly from this century.

Before she could ask Sebastian who he really was, or what he was doing in Mystic Falls, they heard a sound coming from outside. Lizzie turned towards the noise, and when she looked back to see Sebastian’s reaction he was gone. So much for a distraction.

“MG, you can come out from your hiding place now!” Lizzie yelled out into the apparently empty corridor. She’s been kind of aware of him following her, ever since she left the game to follow Sebastian into the woods. A part of her found it kind of sweet. She supposed that it was a little reckless of her to follow a potential monster into a weird dungeon in the middle of the forest, without backup.

Another part of her was frustrated that Sebastian was spooked. Despite her initial attraction, the more she found out about him, the more uneasy her made her feel. And after Hope’s reappearance, the timing of his arrival seemed even more fishy. Lizzie was enjoying playing detective, keeping her mind off of all the other issues hanging over her head.

MG turned the corner, looking sheepish. Before he could say a word, Lizzie breezed past him, waving his excuses off. “I know you were just trying to look out for me, blah blah. And honestly, I do appreciate it. But next time, try to be a little more subtle. You spooked Sebastian with your, frankly subpar, attempt at covert surveillance.”

“Lizzie, I’m not sure what you’re talking about. I followed you because I was worried, that’s true, but there was no one here with you.” MG looked uneasily at the back of Lizzie’s head. He didn’t want to point that out, aware that Lizzie might take it as a dig at her mental illness. But after he swathe blonde waving at what appeared to be empty space, and then talking to herself in the abandoned underground, he was more than concerned.

Lizzie’s shoulders stiffened, and she stopped. Without turning around, she asked in a small voice, “What are you implying, Milton?”

MG swallowed at the use of his given name, wringing his hands nervously. “Look, Lizzie, I’m not trying to imply anything here, I swear, it’s just that… I looked over at whoever you were waving at, and there was no one there. Then you seemed to just walk off into the woods, and when I caught up with you, you were talking to yourself. I only heard your voice in there.”

Lizzie turned around slowly, regarding MG with a cold stare. Underneath her offended façade, a part of her was starting to panic. What if MG was right. Maybe she was going crazy. Imagining some vampire with a British accent in order to, what, distract herself with all her problems?

MG saw the uncertainly in Lizzie’s eyes. Despite how good the blonde witch was at convincing everyone around her that nothing touched her, MG knew how insecure she was about her mental health. He saw Lizzie starting to doubt herself, and rushed to add, “Hey, no, look! What do I know? Just because I couldn’t see him, doesn’t mean he wasn’t actually there, right? I mean, you’re a witch, I’m a vampire, and if that wasn’t crazy enough, we’ve seen sirens, and unicorns, and mind controlling slugs last year. So, who’s to say there can’t be a mysterious, invisible vampire roaming around? Right?”

Lizzie tried for a weak smile. She really appreciated MG trying to come up with an explanation, but the truth was that she was finding it hard to believe him. Despite all the crazy things that have happened recently, there had to be a limit somewhere. And Lizzie was inclined to believe that the limit might just be her being the only one to see a mysterious, good looking vampire that is interested in her, yet tries to stay away. For Lizzie, that has been a classic fantasy all through her teenage years.

Suddenly, Lizzie put on a bright smile and turned away, bouncing down the path towards school energetically. Even though MG could see right through it, he decided not to call Lizzie out on it right now, and just made a mental note to check up on Lizzie later.

* * *

After coming up to see Ethan briefly, Hope felt even more guilty. The injured QB was very happy to see her, if slightly confused. He seemed to be putting on a brave face, making jokes and flirting with Hope. It was such a blatant defence mechanism that Hope didn’t even try to call him out on it. He kind of deserved this comfort.

Maya was surprised to see that her brother and the new girl were so friendly. Suddenly a familiar feeling of sibling rivalry seemed to bubble up inside her at the sight of Hope and Ethan flirting and joking around as if they had known each other for years. But she pushed it down. If Hope could take Ethan’s mind off his arm for even a few moments, she would give it to her brother.

After the visiting hours were over Hope and Maya each gave Ethan a careful goodbye hug and made their way out of the hospital. Outside by the doors, Maya gave Hope another hug, thanking her for coming to check up on them.

“I’m sorry, about Ethan’s arm,” Hope said, as she pulled away from the hug, her hand lingering on Maya’s arm for a moment.

Maya tilted her head curiously, regarding Hope, “That’s ok, it’s not like it’s your fault. You weren’t even there. Oh! That reminds me, how is your ankle? That looked like a nasty fall that you took after their QB tackled you earlier.”

Hope cursed herself internally for forgetting about her excuse. She attempted a reassuring smile, “Oh, yeah, it’s better, thanks. Still a little sore, but nothing an icepack and some overnight elevation won’t fix.”

“I’m glad to hear it, just wanted to make sure we didn’t come put two QBs down from the Salvatore game,” Maya smiled teasingly at Hope.

The shorter girl grimaced, looking even more apologetic, “Yeah, that kind of makes it my fault in a way, doesn’t it? I mean, if I’d just sucked it up, Ethan wouldn’t have had to step up. I’m really sorry about that.”

“Stop apologising. Honestly, Ethan was kind of an idiot for playing in that game. It’s just supposed to be a friendly scrimmage, there aren’t even any stakes involved in that game for us. But he wanted to be the hero, as always. I love my brother, but sometimes he can be his own worst enemy.”

Hope smiled at Maya, grateful that she was trying to make her feel better, but the taller girl didn’t know that this wasn’t exactly an accident, and that Hope could have prevented it if she was there. In that moment, Hope decided to do something incredibly stupid. Ever since coming back from Malivore, she had been making impulsive and poorly thought out decisions left and right, but she knew that this one was at least going to be worth it.

“Thanks Maya. Have a good night,” Hope turned around, starting to walk away, already thinking about how she was going to put her plan into action.

“Good night Hope. I’ll see you at school tomorrow, yeah?” Maya called after the other girl.

Hope turned her head, meeting Maya’s eyes and smiling at her, “Yeah, see you tomorrow,” she threw over her shoulder.

As the shorter girl disappeared down the road that… did not lead back to town, Maya noticed that she wasn’t limping in the slightest. She liked Hope, but something about her just seemed off, and Maya was determined to find out what it was.

* * *

Hope made her way to the Salvatore school for the second time in the same day. It was turning into a habit. Her plan involved sneaking into her old room and getting to her stash of regenerative potions. She always made sure to have a few bottles full of healing potions of different kinds on hand. Pain killers, burn treatment, lotions for cuts and bruises and a certain bone regeneration potion. Being a tribrid, Hope hardly ever needed them for herself, having her own accelerated healing abilities, but it was always good to be overprepared. And now, she could sneak one of her potions to Ethan somehow, heal his arm, so that he can keep his scholarship.

As she was making her way into school from the basement, Hope paused behind the wall of the main hall, as she heard voices coming from the front stairs. As she sneaked a peek around the corner, she saw the back of Josie and Landon, sitting on the stairs, their hands intertwined, Josie’s head on Landon’s shoulder. She heard Landon tell Josie about the monsters coming back, and about her not being who she said she was. Hope figured it would have been too much to ask for for Landon to keep their earlier encounter to himself.

Seeing Josie and Landon together, Hope had very conflicting feelings. She cared both about Josie and Landon, and a part of her did think they were cute together. And after getting her heart broken by Penelope, Josie deserved someone like Landon to take care of her. A bigger part of Hope hurt seeing them together, completely unaware of Hope’s existence and how she had fit into their lives. She was jealous, and hurt, and irrationally angry at Josie for taking another person away from her.

Hope decided not to dwell on that last part. Going down that path did not lead to anything good. That same thought had crossed her mind when she had found out about Josie’s lie the first time around, and she had pushed it back then too. Lizzie was never hers to begin with. Sure, they were on their way to being friends before Josie had set her room on fire and told Lizzie that Hope called her crazy behind her back, but they weren’t anything else. Not like her and Landon were. And Hope knew it wasn’t fair to Josie. Neither her nor Landon knew she ever existed, but she couldn’t help feeling resentful.

Hope hurried away quickly, unable to look at the two anymore and afraid of being discovered. She made her way to her old room with practiced ease, knocking on the door slightly, and swinging it open with a lot more hesitance than last time. The brunette peaked her head into the room before entering, scanning it for Lizzie.

Lizzie sat on the bed, flipping through what looked to be one of Hope’s grimoires. The blonde looked up at the knock, meeting Hope’s eyes with a startled gaze. She looked like a deer caught in headlights, and attempted to cover the grimoire on her lap with a blanket.

Hope slid into the room, closing the door quietly behind herself. She raised an eyebrow at Lizzie, giving her a smug once over. The other girl was once again wearing one of Hope’s sweatshirts, and Hope tried really hard not to dwell on the fact that she liked seeing Lizzie in her clothes and in her bed.

“Ah, the prodigal tribrid returns. Again,” Lizzie deadpanned. “How may I help you today?”

Hope found Lizzie’s attempts at nonchalance and haughtiness cute, but she wasn’t about to call her out on them. This time, she couldn’t afford to be here for more than a few minutes. Alaric was probably already wondering where she was, and if Josie came by to see Lizzie again, it would look weird if she was being turned away two nights in a row. Hope couldn’t afford for Josie to be suspicious of her twin. That would only mean that she would pay more attention to Lizzie, and given their infamous twin bond, it wouldn’t be long before she would get Lizzie to spill the beans about her late-night visitor.

“Just here to grab some stuff. Don’t mind me,” Hope said absentmindedly, as she made her way into the room. A quick glance around confirmed her suspicions that Lizzie had rummaged through, trying to find all of her secret stashes. Fully aware that Lizzie was following her every move, Hope hid a smirk behind her hair, and made her way over to the vanity. Lizzie’s makeup was strewn across the little table, but that wasn’t what Hope was interested in. She raised her eyes to the mirror, meeting Lizzie’s eyes in the reflection. Her smirk now fully on display for the other girl, Hope reached a hand out, whispering a spell, then prying one side of the mirror of the wall, opening it up like a safe door.

Lizzie scoffed from across the room. She spent the whole night after Hope had left turning the whole room upside down, and she was sure that she had discovered all of the tribrid’s hiding places. It’s just like Hope to take the opportunity to rub it in her face, Lizzie thought, and then promptly wondered at that thought. How would she know, exactly, whether silently gloating was something Hope would do or not? For a second Lizzie wondered if her memories of the other girl were coming back, but was quickly thrown out of her reverie when she noticed Hope making her way towards the door with a potion bottle in her hand.

“Wait, what is that? Are you leaving already? What are you going to do with that? Is that for Raf? I know you’re the one who de-wolvified him, even if the boys refuse to say what happened,” Lizzie was slightly embarrassed with the barrage of questions that had spilled from her mouth.

“De-wolvified?” Hope laughed, “Is that even a word, or did you just make that up?”

“You knew what I meant, didn’t you?” Lizzie suddenly felt very defensive. Sometimes she got tired of always being snappy and witty. It’s not like it was easy to come up with snarky lines on the fly, and sometimes she even had to plan certain nicknames ahead. She didn’t exactly have the luxury of a writing team behind her back, carefully planning out hilariously relatable millennial pop-culture speak like that character from Riverdale. Cherry something.

“I think I got the gist of it, yeah,” Hope’s eyes crinkled in the corners, but she tried to not laugh at Lizzie again. She was aware of how self-conscious the other girl could be. Twisting the potions bottle in her hands, Hope explained, “This is a bone regeneration potion. I was just gonna…”

Lizzie nodded in understanding, “Give it to that QB from Mystic Falls?” Hope nodded, “I heard what happened to him,” Lizzie continued, “I was surprised Josie was capable of doing something like that. Kind of scared actually, because of…”

“The Merge,” Hope finished for her. At Lizzie’s startled gaze, Hope continued, “Sorry, yeah, I know about that. Penelope told me, we are... well, we were, friends. Past tense. She doesn’t know I exist now, so…” Hope shrugged her shoulders. At Lizzie sympathetic gaze, Hope pressed on, “Anyway, yeah, Penelope kind of let it slip one night when we were smoking at the Old Mill, so…”

“Funny how Satan told you and, oh I don’t know, her own girlfriend?” Lizzie crossed her arms. She was never going to forgive Penelope Park for the way she treated her sister, even if it turned out she had the best of intentions.

“That was kind of after the whole breakup thing. It was actually the night before she left,” Hope shrugged, “I couldn’t understand why she had to leave, and since I knew how much she still oved Josie, I also couldn’t understand why Penelope broke up with her. She ended up finally telling me that night.”

Lizzie looked off to the side, trying to stave off a sudden onslaught of tears. Thinking about the merge always made her so angry and sad and scared. She was scared of her own twin. Unlike Penelope, Lizzie knew that Josie was going to win, she would always win. Lizzie was good at putting on a strong front for everyone else, but on the inside, she was hollow and weak, And Josie… Well, Josie had a mean streak, and she was fond of blood magic and offensive fire spells. Lizzie never really stood a chance, did she.

Hope noticed the shift in the atmosphere as soon as the Merge was mentioned. She should’ve just kept her mouth shut, but when she was around Lizzie, she just wanted to take any opportunity to show her that she knew her. That they weren’t strangers, not by a long shot.

Hope took a hesitant step towards the bed, trying to catch Lizzie’s eye. “Hey, look, I’m sorry I brought it up. You know Caroline and Penelope are working hard on finding a way to make sure it doesn’t happen, and before I jumped into Malivore, I even reached out to my aunts in New Orleans. If anyone will have an idea of what to do, it would be Freya Mikaelson.”

Lizzie looked up at Hope curiously. This girl just seemed to be extraordinary revelations anytime time she opened her mouth. “I’m sorry, did you just say that Penelope is helping my mom look for the cure and that the Freya Mikaelson might also be looking into it?”

“Err, yes, I did say that, didn’t I?” Hope rolled her eyes at her inability to keep anything to herself, “Look, to be fair, I thought Penelope would have told Josie why she was going to Europe, and as for my aunt… Well, we were sort of becoming friends, you know, before… And I asked her about it. She obviously doesn’t remember me now, but I’m sure she would still have any of the research I might have gathered before she forgot why she was looking into it in the first place.” Hope shrugged.

“Ok, if your aunt doesn’t even know she is your aunt, how exactly are you going to ask her for this research, genius?” Lizzie sassed. She was tired of being given false hopes, and then having them be ripped away from her in almost the same moment. During the summer, she grew weary of her mother’s research. She didn’t tell Josie this, but Lizzie was extremely lonely in Europe. Caroline was often away chasing some lead, sneaking away, with what Lizzie knew now was probably Satan incarnate. Somehow, being abandoned by a parent for another child felt oddly familiar.

“Well, even if they might not remember me, there will still be a lot more proof there about my existence. I asked Alaric to burn any proof of my time at the school, but I didn’t make a similar call to my aunts, so they would be much easier to convince.” Hope looked off shyly at the next thing she was about to say, “If you want, after things kind of quiet down around here, we can maybe make a road trip up to New Orleans to see if Freya had found anything out.”

Lizzie was touched at Hope’s offer. She’s kind of been dying to get away from Mystic Falls and all its baggage as soon as she set foot here after getting back from Europe. At least there being lonely involved brooding among beautiful architecture and delicious food. Here it involved her sister ditching her to hang out with her bumbling bird bae, and MG staring at her with love sick eyes. Not to mention imaginary mystery vampires.

“You know what? I think I might just take you up on that offer. Thanksgiving. We’re going to New Orleans.” Lizzie smiled at the other girl. Being around Hope was oddly familiar and easy, as if they really did know each other. The other girl certainly knew her, and never seemed to be put off by Lizzie’s snark. At the same time, Lizzie wasn’t burdened by the memory of any of the horrible things she had probably said to Hope over the years. It also didn’t hurt that she was easy on the eyes, but that so wasn’t the point.

Hope smiled back, and for a moment they held eye contact, until she shook herself out of it, and started to back out of the room. “Ok, so, it’s a date then. I mean, it’s not a date! It’s a, plan. Anyway, I’ll call you, ok bye!” Hope shut the door behind herself, covering her flaming face with her hands. Well, that was awkward. Did she just attempt to ask Lizzie Saltzman out?

Lizzie blushed furiously, but smiled to herself. She didn’t really know their past, but this Hope girl looked very cute when she was flustered, and Lizzie finally had a reason to look forward to the holidays.


	3. Get that smile off your face

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Episode 4 from Josie's POV.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... this is kind of almost exactly following the last episode, but from Josie's POV. Mostly because I started the chapter before the episode came out, also because I honestly don't know how to top that reveal at the end of the episode. In terms of Hizzie. I will probably try to write another chapter based on this episode about them, once I figure out how to, lol.  
This is basically a closer look at what Josie is thinking, and I am also bringing Penelope a little into this. I hope they bring her back in canon, so I am not committing to anything yet, but I also can't just not mention my girl.  
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter, and do let me know if you would like more chapters from other characters' POVs (I was thinking Raf, since he doesn't get nearly enough screentime), oooor, if you would rather I stick to Hope and Lizzie.

Josie just wished it was summer again. She could pretend her and Landon were living in a romcom montage, watching movies at the Old Mill, hanging out on the dock, singing songs, sharking milkshakes in town. Everything seemed so much simpler, Josie even managed a whole day without thinking about Penelope. And it was so much easier to ignore all the things that haven’t been adding up since the whole Malivore fiasco.

But now that the new school year had started, the ghost of her ex was much harder to ignore. It’s like there was a hole torn in the fabric of the Salvatore hierarchy, right at the top, a place was missing. All of Penelope’s old witch posse were wandering around the halls, aimlessly. Vampires and werewolves were seizing the moment, fighting for the newly vacant space at the top.

But more than all that, Josie felt Penelope’s absence most acutely in her life. She would seek the shorter girl out in the dining hall, searching for her before even realising what she was doing. She’d think whether Penelope would like the outfit she had chosen for the day, before remembering she wouldn’t be there to see it. Mostly she would see the book that Penelope had left for her, full of everyone’s secrets, taunting her. Josie had still not had the courage to open it, feeling torn about spying on her friends.

And besides, her and Landon were in a good place right now. Landon was sweet, and considerate, and adorably awkward, basically everything that Penelope wasn’t. It was a nice change of pace, bit in the back of her mind, Josie couldn’t help but think that it was precisely because Landon was the opposite of Penelope that she was even dating him. As a way to finally erase Penelope from her mind.

It was hard to do that though. Especially, when every time Josie did something daring, or forbidden, she automatically thought of Penelope. Was this what the other girl wanted from her? Was Josie acting out now, dating Landon, making girls get nosebleeds in the middle of class, breaking people’s arms as a pathetic attempt at proving her ex-girlfriend wrong? Trying to get the attention of someone who wasn’t even around anymore? Josie decided to push that thought deep down, and never revisit it again. She was kind of good at doing that.

Josie did decide to give up black magic. Mostly because she really did feel bad about what happened to that quarterback from Mystic Falls High, but a small part of her was actually worried about her motivations. Was she really finally standing up for herself, out of the shadow of her sister, or was she only doing what Penelope had wanted her to do?

The brunette had decided to take a walk around campus, to get her mind off of everything. Just as she was passing the gates to the school, trying desperately not to imagine Penelope walking beside her, holding her hand, Josie heard… Was that Japanese? She rushed over to see Dorian attempting to talk to an honest to god samurai. Of course, why not?

It felt nice practicing her Japanese. It was something she had taken up because of circumstance, and boredom, but it felt so nice to see the surprised looks on Dorian’s face, when he exclaimed in astonishment, “Since when do you speak Japanese?”

“Since there was a Japanese language centre near Lizzie’s old therapist,” Josie shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly.

Dorian gave her an impressed look, which quickly disappeared in favour of concern and apprehension. And Josie couldn’t blame him, if Kurutta was to be believed, and Josie _was _inclined to believe his frantic explanation of the Oni, then their new monster of the week was seriously bad news. Like, mind controlling unicorn slugs, but with potential murder, bad.

Lizzie wasn’t being much help, and Josie felt kind of guilty for the rash that her twin ended up with because of her black magic. Lizzie really seemed to be doing much better since Europe, and Josie didn’t want to push, lest she reverse any of the progress. Plus, there really wasn’t much time to convince Lizzie to help after Kurutta ran out of their room, katana held high towards a crowd of unsuspecting students. Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to bring a samurai wielding a supernatural detecting sword to a school for supernaturals. 

Eventually, Kurutta’s sword led them to Mystic Falls High, and Josie was incredibly irritated to find Landon with that Hope girl. She really seemed to bring out the worst in Josie, made her feel really unbalanced. The only way Josie could think to deal with it was to lash out. She was sure everyone around her thought she was threatened, because, well, Hope was like unfairly gorgeous and seemed to always know exactly what to do. Not to mention, that according to Landon, she was some super powerful witch and a werewolf on top of that. Josie had never even heard of a witch-werewolf hybrid before.

Regardless, Josie’s snarky question about what Hope was even doing there was interrupted by Raphael ripping his way out of the trunk and attacking Kurutta. Before he could kill the Oni, Hope ripped the sword out of his hand, which resulted in Raphael getting away and Kurutta passing out. Josie couldn’t help but be annoyed with Hope, even though in the back of her mind, she had to admit that the other girl had just saved Raf’s life. Too bad now they had no idea where the Oni was.

After Josie secured Kurutta and Landon in her dad’s office, she came back outside to regroup with her father and his new… protégé. Hope just couldn’t stop annoying Josie, it seemed. The taller girl caught herself thinking that Penelope would really know how to put this busybody in her place, although, if she really thought about it, she could see the two girls being friends, which… was a very odd thought to have, and made Josie shake her head, to get rid of it. She had a strange feeling, that in another life, that thought would have almost made her smile.

After making her way through the school with her dad, trying to locate the Oni, Josie made her way back to the office only to find Landon gone, and Hope with a giant bruise on one side of her face. The pieces clicked, and Josie’s first reaction was concern. For Hope. She frowned, and blamed her reaction on being disappointed with the girl for letting her boyfriend go. This whole situation was entirely too confusing for Josie, and she burying all those confusing and contradicting feelings about Hope, and Landon, and Penelope. Josie was good at that. Ignoring her feelings.

And it wasn’t too hard to do in the current situation, there were much more important things to focus on. Like the image of Kurutta with his throat slit open. Or the sudden terrifying realisation that Landon was possessed, and probably on his way to throw himself into the portal. That last thought threw her into action, and after her father’s surprising helpful suggestion, Josie rummaged through her bag, coming across a love not that Landon gave her a few days ago.

Hope reached out for the note, and a look flitted across her face as she recognised it for what it was. Josie’s heart… skipped a beat. Something about love notes, and Hope just… stirred up some of those annoying hard to explain feelings. Most guilt, strangely enough. Josie ripped the note from Hope’s hand, “It’s none of your business,” she whispered harshly at the shorter girl.

Hope only smiled, this infuriatingly knowing smile, that was also somehow impossibly sad. Josie hated it. She hated this girl, she hated that she felt bad for her, and guilty about being mean. Hope obviously liked Landon, and yet Josie kept wanting to be her friend. Sure, she was also jealous, but of who exactly, Hope or Landon… well, that was something she didn’t particularly want to find out.

Performing the spell with Hope was exhilarating and terrifying all at once. Josie had never felt this much power, even when she touched Kurutta’s sword earlier. But unlike the sword, Hope’s magic wasn’t dark, it just was. So calm, and endless, like an ocean. It was no surprise that the spell worked in a heartbeat, and the girls were out of the door the next instance.

What they found in the town square… well, it was kind of unexpected to say the least. Josie surveyed the scene in front of her. Her eyes landed on Landon first, lying there, with a sword sticking out of his chest. The two girls rushed towards him. But everything felt as if she was underwater, muted and distorted. Lizzie was chained to the tree, looking frantic and scared. Her sister was putting on a brave face, but Josie could feel how broken and hopeless Lizzie felt through their bond.

“Lizzie, are you ok?”

“Nope, I am super crazy,” Lizzie attempted to sound nonchalant. As if she was telling a funny joke at a dinner table. Only her voice trembled a little too much to sound convincing. “At least there’s a reason this time,” she went on much calmly. That’s when Josie noticed her sister’s eyes flash red. “The demon’s in me.”

Josie heard Hope take in a ragged breath from somewhere behind her. Josie turned around, and noticed how intensely Hope was staring at Lizzie, the other girl seemed to have forgotten about Landon. If Josie wasn’t so preoccupied with how royally screwed they were in this situation, she would have been a lot more interested in the fact that Hope wasn’t freaking out that the boy she was clearly crushing on was lying dead on the ground.

She had realised then what had happened. Lizzie must have seen Landon strolling through the town with a sword, had followed him to investigate, realised he was possessed and killed him. Only before she did, the Oni had possessed Lizzie.

Josie watched, as if in a trance, as Hope made her way to Lizzie, and a look seemed to pass between the two. Did… did Lizzie seem to recognise Hope? How did her sister know this girl? Josie felt it again, that irrational jealousy. She was kind of getting used to it by now. Only, this time, it was laced with a healthy dose of guilt too.

Before Josie could react, however, Lizzie, or rather the Oni, snarled at Hope, making her take a startled step back, her eyes huge. Josie had to stifle a laugh.

“Oh, sorry, that is embarrassing.” Lizzie smiled at Hope, somewhat bashfully. The shorter girl looked over somewhat awkwardly, before making her way back to check on Landon. She wasn’t still completely unphased by the fact that he was dead. Josie was starting to suspect Hope knew that Landon was a Phoenix, which only lead to more question, none of which were pressing considering their current situation.

Suddenly, another thought occurred to Josie, “I don’t understand, if the Oni is in you, then how are you talking?” She came closer to Lizzie, trying to wrap her mind around it.

“I don’t know but, but I can feel it. In my head. It tried to take over, but I don’t know how much longer I can—”

Lizzie’s face cleared up abruptly, and she stood up looking Josie straight in the eye, “Never mind, it’s gone!” Lizzie face split into a winning smile, “You can untie me.”

Josie felt her heart sink, she turned around to look at Hope, to see if the other girl was as worried about the sudden change in attitude as she was. Hope met her eyes, her brow furrowed in concern, before looking back towards Lizzie.

“I didn’t say that, ok? It did, it’s still in me, so don’t—” Lizzie pleaded.

In the next moment, Lizzie swivelled her head to the side, in a move that Josie was come to recognise as the moment the Oni was taking over, when a calm seemed to wash over Lizzie, “Listen to me, I’m fine. We should probably get out of here before we—”

Lizzie interrupted herself, or the Oni, or… God this was confusing. The blond whined in a borderline hysteric way, that trailed off into a laugh. Josie couldn’t imagine what her sister must have been going through.

“Ok, you have _got_ to stop me. Please,” Lizzie pleaded, “Otherwise this thing is going to win.”

“She’s fighting the demon somehow, like Kurutta did.” Hope chimed in from behind Josie. A look of realisation settled on Josie’s face.

Well, the demon had gotten so much more than what it bargained for with Lizzie. It was heart-breaking really, how proud Josie was of her sister, because the fact that she could resist the possession had finally made Josie realise how truly broken Lizzie was. It’s what happened to Kurutta once, he said that he was able to resist the Oni because of how broken his mind was.

“I already know I’m crazy, ok. You don’t have to rub it in,” Lizzie rolled her eyes at Hope, misinterpreting her remark. She looked off to the side, bitterly, entirely too affected by Hope’s words. What was it with these two, Josie wondered once more.

“Kurutta was not crazy, and neither are you,” Josie protested vehemently. She was damned if she was going to let her sister feel bad about herself right now. What she was doing was incredible, and just proved how strong she was. She was dealing with something every day that was as bad as possession, at least in the amount of mental energy that it took to fight it. Most people lost all ability to control their actions, or even be aware of what they were doing as soon as the demon possessed them, but Lizzie had chained herself to a tree, and was actively fighting the demon in her head.

“Where’s dad?” Lizzie whispered brokenly, “I just want dad.” Her face scrunched up, in an attempt not to cry. Lizzie always did hate crying in front of other people.

“Kurutta fought the Oni for years, ok? If you just give us a little bit of time then we can—” Hope interjected frantically. She could tell where Lizzie’s mind was taking her, and she was _not_ going to let that happen. Josie looked over at the shorter girl, puzzled at how scared she sounded. Hope was certainly displaying more concern for Lizzie than the boy still lying dead at her feet.

“No, I can’t live like this anymore. Sebastian isn’t real,” Lizzie chocked out. There were tears welling in her eyes, threatening to spill over. “This whole time I thought I was better, but I have just been seeing things, and hearing things, and feeling things that no one else does.” Lizzie’s eyes fell briefly on Hope, crouched down beside Landon. She wondered at what point she had stopped talking about Sebastian, and had started talk about Hope instead. “And it’s scary. Scarier than any demon in my head. Although, that sucks too,” Lizzie quipped sarcastically.

“Lizzie, Lizzie it’s ok. Ok? We’re going to fix you,” Josie implored. Her own vision had turned blurry from unshed tears and she got a horrible sinking feeling in her stomach at where Lizzie was taking this.

“There is no fixing me, Jo. I am just… shattered,” Lizzie cried in earnest now, “The pieces are too small to put back together. Tell dad that I love him.” The blonde caught her twins’ eye, trying to convey with her gaze her determination. She had made her choice. She just needed Josie to accept it. “You have to end this.”

“What?”

“With that sword,” Lizzie nodded towards the katana, lying by Landon’s limp body.

Josie cast her eyes down, as if only now noticing the glowing sword.

“Wow! I know we just met, but there is _no _way that we are gonna let that happen,” exclaimed Hope, eyes wide, staring at Lizzie with an unreadable look in her eyes. Only, Josie thought, the look was readable after all. It was sheer panic at Lizzie’s request, and steely determination to not let it happen.

Before Josie could dwell on what that look meant, Lizzie’s chains rattled as she surged forward, her eyes going blank and her voice taking on that sinister echoey undertone that meant the Oni had taken over once more, “_You have no choice. This will not stop until you give me the boy.”_

The dam broke, tears streamed down Josie’s face at the sight of her twins’ struggle, “Lizzie, you can fight this!”

_“Fighting is useless_,” the demon snapped, “_Malivore still lives, and his control over us is stronger than ever. Soon the likes of me will be the least of your concerns._”

Josie couldn’t be sure, but the portal bubbling and smoking a couple of feet away from them seemed to react to the demon’s threat, as if it was sentient. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought, because frankly, it was terrifying.

After a beat, Lizzie came back, seemingly unaware that the demon had just taken over, which only meant his control was growing stronger, and Lizzie’s ability to resist was waning.

“Distracted during a monologue,” the blonde chuckled self-deprecatingly, “Classic villain mistake.”

Josie whimpered at her sister’s poor attempt at humour. She cast her eyes down once more, regarding the glowing sword. An idea was beginning to form in her head.

“Jo, you have to do it. For me,” Lizzie implored. She could tell Josie didn’t want to do this. She had to convince her somehow and there was one thing she knew would get to Josie right now. “It’s only a matter of time before you kick my ass in the Merge anyway,” Lizzie tried for a light tone, almost teasing, “and this is better than the Merge,” she bargained, “because this way, you won’t have to live with some messed up part of me in your brain forever, driving you as crazy as I am.”

Josie bit her lip, looking away from Lizzie. The Merge was still a sore subject for them, and mentioning it brought up way too many conflicting feelings for them both. Josie could tell what Lizzie was trying to do. She was attempting to frame this as a good thing, a foregone conclusion anyway, so why wait?

Josie turned away from Lizzie, pacing back and wagging her finger in an annoyed gesture. Some small part of her was sure that if Lizzie wasn’t currently battling with a literal demon inside of her mind, on top of whatever was going on with Sebastian, she would have given Josie so much shit for that gesture.

“We weren’t going to talk about that before we had real solutions,” she said, with her back to Lizzie. Josie couldn’t bare looking at her sister, while Lizzie begged her twin to kill her.

“Maybe this is it,” Lizzie exclaimed, then suddenly doubled over in pain. The blond let out a few strangled gasps, clearly in pain from trying to fight off the demon. “Josie, make it stop please,” she whimpered.

Josie stood frozen to the spot, tears freely streaming down her face now, she couldn’t even bother wiping them away. She saw Lizzie lift her head up and make eye contact with Hope, who had been sitting down by Landon, trying to give the two sisters some privacy.

“If Josie won’t do it, then you have to Hope,” Lizzie cried out to the other girl. Josie wondered when the shorter brunette had time to introduce herself. How had Lizzie known her name?

Hope’s eyes flew towards Josie, as if asking her what she should do. There was something so familiar in that gaze, Hope seemed to trust Josie, look to her for a solution, as if she had done it before, countless times. It unsettled Josie how much she wanted to reassure the other girl. Why should she want to reassure some stranger, while her sister was begging Josie to kill her, and her boyfriend was lying dead on the ground? Hope was no one but a stranger to them, and yet, she looked as affected as Josie felt at the whole situation.

Josie turned around as if in a trance, and reached for the sword on the ground. Lizzie was in a lot more pain now, struggling to hold it together for a few more seconds. But Josie wasn’t planning to take the easy way out. As she picked the sword up, it burned her hands, reminding her just how much black magic was stored in it. That gave her an idea.

“There is so much black magic in this thing, it hurts to hold it,” she said through her teeth, forcing herself to hold on to the sword.

“Probably won’t feel much better getting stabbed by it,” Lizzie raised her eyebrows, smiling ruefully at the prospect. If the prospect of imminent pain and death wasn’t so distracting, Lizzie would have really enjoyed this whole self-sacrificing moment a lot more. It was nice playing the hero for once, she thought with a smile.

Josie disregarded Lizzie’s macabre sense of humour, choosing instead on figuring out her plan, “I can pull the magic out of this, maybe then I will be able to get the Oni out of you,” she mumbled, mostly to herself. She took a deep breath, then started to siphon the dark magic out of the sword.

It felt as if molten lava was flowing through her veins instead of blood. The dark magic permeated every corner of Josie’s being, her consciousness. It was both painfully terrifying and exhilarating. It felt as if the very atoms of her being were being torn apart and then put back together over and over again, and yet, Josie felt unstoppable. She felt infinite. Just as the last drops of magic were siphoned out of the sword, she dropped it and directed all of the magic she had accumulated at Lizzie, with a feral scream.

Hope looked on at what Josie was doing in utter fascination. She had no doubts it was going to work, but she also couldn’t imagine how painful it was to do. Josie’s head fell back, her eyes closed and from her glowing palms, which held the sword, the black magic swirled right under the skin, reaching higher and higher, as if engulfing Josie. It was terrifying to watch.

Time seemed to slow as Josie dropped the sword, having completely emptied it, and directed all of the dark magic at Lizzie. Hope saw the Oni start to separate from Lizzie, both screaming in agony as their intertwined essences were being torn apart by pure dark magic. After a few tense moments, the Oni was torn completely away, and then sucked into the Malivore portal.

Josie and Lizzie were left standing opposite each other, trying to catch their breath. Lizzie finally wrapped her mind over what had happened, “You did it! I love you,” she smiled at Josie breathlessly.

Josie swayed in place, feeling completely emptied out. With the black magic had gone all of her strength. “You better,” she wheezed in Lizzie’s direction, and then promptly crumbled to the ground, unable to hold her own weight. Only she didn’t fall, as strong arms caught her before she could. She looked up, her vision swimming, into the blurry face of one infuriatingly confusing girl. Hope smiled down at her in awe, while she lay her gently down on the ground.

Before she could say anything, Josie muttered in annoyance, “Get that smile off your face.” After which she passed out. But not before she swore, she heard Hope mumble something about talking it out with MG about getting her on the Avengers squad. Really, exhausted hallucinations were just utterly bizarre.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always this not proofread, or even really looked over at all in any way, so if anything doesn't make any sense, or there are lots of terrible typos, let me know, but like nicely plz. thnx


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